Transhuman Space was one of the first role-playing games to tackle postcyberpunk and transhumanist themes.[citation needed] In 2002, the Transhuman Space adventure "Orbital Decay" received an Origins Award nomination for Best Role-Playing Game Adventure. Transhuman Space won the 2003 Grog d'Or Award for Best Role-playing Game, Game Line or RPG Setting.[1]

Human genetic engineering has advanced to the point that anyone--single individuals, same-sex couples, groups of three or more--can reproduce. The embryos can be allowed to be developed naturally, or they can undergo three levels of tinkering: genefixing, which corrects defects; upgrades, which boost natural abilities (Ishtar Upgrades are slightly more attractive than usual, Metanoia Upgrades are more intelligent, etc.); and full transition to parahuman status (Nyx Parahumans only need a few hours of sleep per week, Aquamorphs can live underwater, etc.) Another type of human genetic engineering, far more controversial, is the creation of bioroids, fully sentient slave races.

Critically wounded (or completely healthy) persons can "upload" by recording the contents of his/her brain on a computer disk. The individual then become a ghost, an infomorph very easily confused with "sapientartificial intelligence". However, this technology has several problems as the solely available "brainpeeling" technique is fatal to the original person, has a significant failure rate and the philosophical questions regarding personal identity remain equivocal. Any informorph, regardless of its origin, can be plugged into a "cybershell", or a biological body, or "bioshell". Or, the individual can illegally make multiple "xoxes", or copies of themselves, and scatter them throughout the system, exponentially increasing the odds that at least one of them will live for centuries more, if not forever.

This is no utopia, however, as several problems arise from these otherwise beneficial developments. The Generation gap has become a chasm as lifespans increase. No longer do the elite fear death, and no longer can the young hope to replace them. While it seemed that outworld colonies would offer accommodation and work for those young ones, they are being replaced by genetically tailored bioroids and AI-powered cybershells. The concept of humanity is no longer clear in a world where even some animals speak of their rights and the dead haunt both cyberspace and reality (in form of informorph-controlled bioshells or cybershells).

And the wonders of high science aren't universally shared — some countries merely struggle with informatization while others suffer from nanoplagues, defective drugs, implants and software tested on their populace. In some poor countries high-tech tyrants oppress their backward people. And in outer space all sort of modern crime thrives, barely suppressed by military forces.